Re: Wake County Courthouse Reopens Despite Water Damage

[Guest guest]

Hello,

This One remind me of the Broward County Court House they so called clean it,

but it's not clean that's another building that really needs to go.

Thank You again.

Elvira

[] Wake County Courthouse Reopens Despite Water Damage

Wake County Courthouse Reopens Despite Water Damage

POSTED: 10:12 pm EDT August 4, 2006

UPDATED: 2:11 pm EDT August 7, 2006

http://www.wral.com/news/9633340/detail.html?taf=ral

VIDEO

RALEIGH, N.C. -- Less than three days after thousands of gallons of

water flowed through the Wake County Courthouse, thousands of people

flowed through the building's courtrooms and hallways Monday.

Two contract workers were working on the sprinkler system Friday

night when a pressurized pipe burst, sending water cascading through

two floors of the courthouse and into the parking garage,

authorities said.

County clean-up crews worked through the weekend to get the

courthouse up and running for its busy Monday morning rush. Floors,

walls and files had to be dried out, and water-damaged equipment had

to be replaced.

" Computers, telephones and files (were damaged), and we had some

copiers and printers that were pretty much ruined, " Clerk of Court

Jan Pueschel said.

District Court Judge Knox lit a candle in her courtroom to

diffuse the smell of the weekend flood. When she first arrived

Monday morning, she said the smell was so bad that she and her staff

couldn't stop coughing. They spent the first hour walking across a

saturated carpet to throw away wet paperwork.

" It's musty. There was an inch of water covering everything. The

ceiling tiles were on the ground, " Knox said.

Two of four elevators at the courthouse remained out of commission

Monday. Since most cases are heard on the fifth floor, lawyers,

litigants and others had to take the stairs.

A bad leg forced to wait for an elevator for 30 minutes.

" Generally it's not at best with four running, so with two, it's

impossible for clients to get up and down unless they take the

stairs or wait forever, " lawyer Rick Gammon said. " It's just

ridiculous the number of cases we have set in these courtrooms.

There's no way to take care of all of them whether the elevators are

working or not. "

All four elevators are expected to be working by Tuesday.

Pueschel said she hopes to get some extra clerks to help her dry

paperwork and reprint files that cannot be salvaged.

" We barely keep up. Sometimes, we don't with the amount of work we

do. Anything that puts us behind is a problem, " she said.

Officials said total costs for the cleanup are expected to exceed

$50,000. It will take a couple of weeks for the building to

completely dry out, they said.